FORT MYERS, Fla. ¨C Mickey Gasper and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. both began playing professional baseball in 2018. They¡¯ve combined for nearly 900 games and 3,600 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues without cracking a Major League Opening Day roster.
Until now.
Gasper and Keirsey were both notified Monday ahead of a 5-1 win over the Pirates that they will break camp with the Twins, the culmination of a couple of campaigns that seemed to start as long shots but ended in joy.
¡°It¡¯s pretty cool, I¡¯m not going to lie,¡± said Gasper. ¡°It¡¯s a dream come true. Everyone wants to play on Opening Day. My goal is to help the team win every single day. My parents are here right now. I¡¯m sure some more emotions and words to think of will come by once I see them. It¡¯s going to be a cool moment.¡±
The Twins also notified infielder Edouard Julien that he had made the club and optioned outfielder-infielder Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul. Combined, the decisions set the 13 position players that the club will take to St. Louis for its opener on Thursday: catchers Ryan Jeffers and Christian V¨¢zquez, infielders Ty France, Julien, Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda and Gasper, outfielders Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Harrison Bader and Keirsey, and utility man Willi Castro.
The decisions come after the club got encouraging news regarding Gasper, who left Sunday¡¯s game against the Red Sox due to a left ankle laceration. Gasper was moving well in the clubhouse on Monday and said he expects to be able to participate fully in Wednesday¡¯s workout in St. Louis. The club will watch him carefully in the coming days, but it could have been much worse.
¡°He still needs to keep this thing in a good place over the next couple of days,¡± said manager Rocco Baldelli. ¡°It¡¯s an injury that we think within a few days, he¡¯s going to be fine and he¡¯s going to be able to play. ¡ We¡¯re just at the point where we think by Opening Day, he should be OK to do whatever we need him to do and whatever we ask him to do.¡±
Both Gasper and Keirsey reached the Majors last year, but both entered camp with seemingly little chance of making the club. For Gasper, this was his first time even in Major League camp. But injuries to Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee changed the roster math, and both performed well enough to seize the opportunity.
¡°It was almost like I got called up to the big leagues for the first time again,¡± Keirsey said. ¡°I knew that decision was being made these last couple days. I just didn't know what was going on. It was just that nervous, anxious feeling of knowing a decision has to be made, so when [Baldelli] called me in there and I heard that, I just took a big, big sigh of relief.¡±
Baldelli pointed to Keirsey¡¯s speed and defense as points in his favor in the final accounting. Keirsey¡¯s left-handedness had seemed to put him at a disadvantage relative to Martin, since both of Minnesota¡¯s starting corner bats hit from the left side. But the Twins do not expect to see many left-handed starters in the early going, and beyond that, Baldelli indicated that the club simply valued the skills that Keirsey brings.
Gasper will mostly see time at second base, first base and designated hitter, though he is also able to catch in a pinch. He quickly fit in as a popular teammate, but he also hit all spring (.904 OPS in 17 games) and has an extensive track record of success at the plate in the Minors.
¡°He¡¯s a very positive person, and I think he uses that to his benefit,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°And on top of all of that, he had a great camp. It¡¯s not like we just like him and we decided to give Mickey an Opening Day roster spot.¡±
As for Martin, who also had a strong camp, he was somewhat hamstrung by the club¡¯s second base competition. He didn¡¯t get a lot of looks in the infield early, as the second base opportunities went to Castro, Gasper and Julien. However, it¡¯s likely that at Triple-A he will spend more time in the infield than he did last year.
Minnesota still has one open bullpen spot, and it appears that it will be filled by either an external acquisition or a player who has previously been optioned this spring.